Obama: Islamic State Surge Was ‘Not on My Intelligence Radar Screen’

President Barack Obama admitted that he wasn’t prepared for the Islamic State’s surge across both Iraq and Syria.

“The ability of ISIL to not just mass inside of Syria, but then to initiate major land offensives that took Mosul, for example, that was not on my intelligence radar screen,” Obama told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria after he asked if the president was surprised by the rise of ISIS.

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In January 2014, Obama famously labeled the rise of radical Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria as the “jayvee team.”

The New York Timesreported in August that Congress discovered CENTCOM Military officials altering intelligence reports to portray a more positive outlook on the war against radical Islamic terrorism.

“From the middle of 2014 to the middle of 2015, the United States Central Command’s most senior intelligence leaders manipulated the command’s intelligence products to downplay the threat from ISIS in Iraq,” Rep. Mike Pompeo said in a statement to reporters at the time.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Pompeo as the next CIA director.